March 7, 2014

Four students in interior architecture & product design had the opportunity to share their design insight with college counselors from around the state of Kansas.

Students were invited to join in a discussion following Jim Correll's keynote to the Kansas College Counseling Association on Wednesday, March 5, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan. Correll is the facilitator and business coach for entrepreneurship at Independence Community College and immensely interested in the experiences of interior architecture & product design students.

Fifth-year graduate students Kayla Hales and Matt Spaniol, both from Overland Park; Teresa Siegele, Fredonia; and Kate Moeder, Wichita, each spent between five to eight minutes giving overviews of their final projects and sharing their experiences in interior architecture & product design. After their presentation, the floor was opened for questions from the participants. Questions included topics of finding creativity, fighting conformity and preparing for the real world.

What makes an entrepreneur coach qualified to speak at a college counselor event and more importantly, why invite interior architecture & product design students to get involved? Correll toured interior architecture & product design’s facilities during the 2013 year and said his experience through his tour was unlike any other college environment. He thought it would be great if the counselors could meet some interior architecture & product design students, who he compares to entrepreneur students.

Correll believes entrepreneurs have self-efficacy which helps their ability to solve problems and during his tour of the interior architecture & product design studios, he was blown away by the enthusiasm and positive energy demonstrated by the students. The students he observed clearly produced the same quality of self-efficacy that entrepreneurs emit. He thinks that designers' experience at being innovative and learning in interior architecture & product design has developed strong self-efficacy and that those attending the College Counseling Association meeting can learn about and share the benefit of promoting this skill in all of their students.

The four students were enthusiastic with their presentations and enjoyed the chance to share their experiences and growth through interior architecture & product design.